Cobaltithiopropionates



United States. Patent Ofiflce No Drawing.

551,520. Divided and this Ser.No.744, 922 I 7" Claims. or. 26 9439);

p fisa J99.- 1958,

The present invehtion'jrelate's tonevs organic cobalt compounds; and more particularly .to coba t iqlropio nates and their production. The present application a, division of my copending application Serial No: 551,520,

filed December 7, 1955, the contents of which are hereby made a part hereof.

Cobaltithiopropionates according to the invention have the following general formula:

CHs-?H-C 0X 000x (llosCH\ CH3 0 Jan-c H-C 0 OX wherein X is a salt or ester group such as a monovalent metal, a group Me in which Me is a polyvalent metal and n is a fractional number whose numerator is l and whose denominator is equal to the valence of the polyvalent metal, an alcoholic group such as an alkyl group, or the cation of an organic base. The X groups in the above formula may be the same or different within the definition of X above set forth. The group X can particu larly be sodium, potassium, calcium, methyl or ethyl.

The above cobaltithiopropionates are prepared by reacting in aqueous medium a suitable inorganic cobalt compound, such as cobalt carbonate, cobalt oxide or cobalt hydroxide, with the thiolpropionic acid or a thiolpropionate of the formula:

wherein X is hydrogen or any of the X groups hereinbefore stated.

The choice of cobalt compound is dictated by the care of not introducing into the reaction medium any acid residue which can cause retrogression of the reaction. The reaction can be carried out at any ambient temperature whatsoever but it has been found to be advantageous to heat the reaction somewhat, preferably to the reflux temperature of the solvent in order to accelerate the reaction. The alkali salts of the cobaltithiopropionates are soluble in water but the other cobaltithiopropionates are insoluble in water and can thus be readily separated from the reaction mixture. In order to separate the alkali cobaltithiopropionates, there is added to the water serving as reaction medium an organic solvent, such as alcohol or acetone, in which they are insoluble.

The new cobaltithiopropionates are crystalline compounds without definite melting point, easily decomposable by strong acids, oxidizing agents and strong reducing agents and in which the cobalt in the form of a complex can be detected only after destruction of the molecule. Sodium and calcium cobaltithiopropionates crystallize with 5 and molecules of water, respectively. The alkali (potassium and sodium) cobaltithiopropionates are m ispluble in water; the other derivatives of the above gen- Original application he... 1'; i955} see in.

? er-al formula are insoluble thiolpropionate is caused to' react in in water. The metal salts areinsolublercin concentrated alcohol whereas the organicsalts :a'resoluble therein. E

The thiolpropionat'es used for reaction with the in.- organic cobalt compound can bereadily: obtainedfrornr thiolpropionic acid by the action therewithof' a suitable compound capable of transferring the-radical X. 1 In general, the mineral salts and the alkali and-Talkalin,e-earth metal salts of'thiolpropionic acid aredirectly obtained ,by neutralization of the acid by, means of bases of the metals. Heavy metal salts are obtained by the action of thiolpropionic acid 'on the appropriate metal carbonates, the reactions taking place according to the theoretical equations. To prepare the salts of amines, amino alcohols and the ether salts of thiolpropionic acid, potassium str n alcoholic medium, such as 99%"methanoL-onhalides of the radi a1 Xito 'be substances #1- The preparation of the new cobaltithiopropionates will be understood from my aforesaid copending application and from the following non-limitative examples.

EXAMPLEI Potassium cobaltithiopropionate ether and dried.

EXAMPLE 2 Sodium cobaltithiopropiomzte The procedure of Example 1 is followed except that the KOH is replaced by NaOH. The product obtained crystallizes with 5 molecules of water.

EXAMPLE 3 Ethyl cobaltithiopropionate EXAMPLE 4 Diethylamine cabaltithiopropionate 106 grams of thiolpropionic acid, dissolved in an equal weight of water, are neutralized with 73 grams of pure diethylamine, brought to a boil and 20 grams of cobalt carbonate added with agitation. After reaction, the mix ture is allowed to cool and treated according to Example l.

The new compounds of the invention have various uses. The water soluble compounds in aqueous solution adhere strongly to vegetable fibers. After impregnation of the fibers and treatment with a solution of calcium chloride, alcohol or any other agent capable of effecting precipitation and insolubilization of the initially soluble salt, there is obtained a solid dye varying in color from red to brown. Moreover, when X is a non-toxic group or radical, the new compounds have interesting therapeutic properties for the treatment of anemias, particularly primary anemias, in animals and humans. These com- Patented May 23, l-961- combining 4.5 milligrams of sodium cobaltithiopropionate with 100 milligrams of sodium thiolpropionatefand 50 milligrams of the stated benzimidazole nicotinate derivative in 5 milliliters of water. v

\ Theinvention is defined by the appended claims. -What is claimed is: 7 1. Acobaltithiopropionate of the formula: I CHa i H-COOX 1 v CHa( 3HCOOX wherein each X is selectedfrom the group consisting of sodium, potassium, calcium, methyl, ethyl, and diethylamine. r v I useful in the synergisticcompositions set forth-n my said copending'application by 2. A cobaltithiopropionate which X iswsodium.

3. A cobaltithiopropionate which X is potassium.

4. A cobaltithiopropionate which X is calcium.

5. A cobaltithiopropionate which X is methyl.

6. A cobaltithiopropionate whichX is ethyL: v

7. A cob'altithiopropionate according to which X is diethylamine.

according to claim in according to claim according to claim in according to claim in according to claim in claim References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,683,104 2,509,193 MOOI'e May 30, 1950 OTHER REFERENCES page 497 (1953)..

Schoeller et al. Sept. 4, 1928 

1. A COBALTITHIOPROPIONATE OF THE FORMULA: 